The Day 1 of the India vs Sri Lanka first test at Galle International Stadium ended up with Indian Cricket Team scoring 399 after losing 3 wickets. Earlier today, Indian skipper Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan, who replaced Murali Vijay in this series, opened the innings with Abhinav Mukund who came in as a replacement of KL Rahul for this match. Team Indian had a very good start but they lost an early wicket in the form of Mukund. Lankan speedster Nuwan Pradeep got the first break through in the 8th over of the game when one of his deliveries dismissed Abhinav Mukund while he was playing on 12.
Cheteshwar Pujara was the next man in at number 3 who joined Shikhar Dhawan at the crease. Shikhar Dhawan was back in the Test circuit after almost 9 months and looked very confident. While batting on 31, he got a lifeline as he was dropped by Asela Gunaratne off the bowling of Lahiru Kumara. Gunaratne injured his left thumb and left the field while later, it was announced that his thumb is fractured and he has been dropped of the on going Test.
Later in the first session, Dhawan went on to register his fourth Test half-century just before lunch. In the second session, he shifted the gear and reached his 5th international ton in Test. He played 110 balls off which he knocked a magnificent hundred. By the end of the second session, Dhawan successfully crossed the 150 runs benchmark and reached 190. However, right before the tea break, Dhawan finally fell when he tried to smash a Pradeep delivery over mid-off but mistimed his shot and Angelo Mathews pulled off an easy catch. He ended up scoring 190 runs off just 168 balls which includes 31 boundaries.
Meanwhile, Pujara also scored a half-century while skipper Virat Kohli came in to bat at number 4 after Dhawan’s dismissal. Kohli’s inning remained very short-timed as he was dismissed soon by Nuwan Pradeep in the 57th over. Kohli lost his wicket after scoring only 3 runs.
The last session was totally dominated by the Indian batsmen. Pujara moved a step ahead and scored his 12th international Test ton while Ajinkya Rahane supported him completely from the other end. By the day end, Chetshwar Pujara scored 144 off 247 balls while Rahane scored 39 runs off 94 balls.
From the Sri Lankan side, Nuwan Pradeep had the most successful bowling spell. Apart from Pradeep, no other bowler could pick a wicket on Day 1. Here are the bowling stats:
Nuwan Pradeep – 18 overs, 1 maiden, 64 runs, 3 wickets, Eco: 3.56
Rangana Herath – 24 overs, 4 maidens, 92 runs, Eco: 3.83
Dilruwan Perera – 25 overs, 1 maiden, 103 runs, Eco: 4.12
Danushka Gunathilaka – 7 overs, 41 runs, Eco: 5.68
Lahiru Kumara: 16 Over, 95 runs, Eco: 5.94
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